Infinite possibilities
by Johanney
Summary: Imagine another sister, one with a potent blend of powers never seen before in a single witch. Now her life is being turned upside down, and she has to compare her reality to what she thought her life was.
1. Trouble Afoot

Title: Infinite Possibilities

Author: Johanney

Keywords: A/U

Rating: PG-13 

Disclaimer: I don't own Charmed or any of the related characters and so forth. Pryce and the strange circumstances surrounding her origins are mine, but that's about it. Also, all _middle _names are my own invention.

Summary: It's revisionist history time!! What if there had been another Halliwell sister, brought into the Manor by the guiding hands of fate, and adopted by Grams? I don't know, either. Let's find out.

Author's Note: The ages of the girls are dependent on the birthdays that were given at different points during the series. I went with the first date given, even though the writers have probably changed them since, seeing how continuity is on the show. However, for a reference, their dates of birth and middle names are: 

-Prudence "Prue" Elise: 10/25/1970

-Piper Lynn: 03/07/1973

-Phoebe Jane: 11/02/1975

-Paige Marie: 08/02/1977 (I'm giving her birthday now even though she won't appear for a few chapters.)

-Pryce Ann: 10/12/1980

Another Note: This is my very first Charmed fic, and I have no idea why I chose an A/U. Please R/R and tell me if I should continue. This scene takes place in an alternate beginning of the pilot episode.

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Chapter 1: First They Giveth

Pryce Halliwell pressed herself against the dining room wall nervously, listening to her older sisters' whispered conversation that was close to becoming an argument.

"She set herself up, Piper, she did it all on her own, and she should have to bail herself out," Prue hissed, thrusting her thumb upward to indicate their sister Phoebe's location upstairs.

"I said it once and I'll say it again, Phoebe's just as much entitled to The Manor as we are. Besides, with Grams gone and Dad God-knows-where, we need each other more than ever."

"Easy for you to put aside your problems, she wasn't with _your_ fiancé."

"Prue, I thought you were working on that."

"You should have still told me she was coming, I could have had time to prepare."

"You only would have prepared a bigger speech for me about all of this. As it is, we should really stop arguing about what's already done. We'll upset Pryce."

Pryce was a sensitive, empathetic girl, even she herself admitted that, and was still having a hard time dealing with the death of Grams, the woman who had adopted her and the only mother she'd ever known. Nonetheless, she was getting better, especially after going to a counselor suggested by Piper, much to the dismay of Prue. Prue had felt that since it was a family problem, they could handle it on their own. Her complaints had stopped when she saw the change in her youngest sister.

Despite the admittance of her own sensitivity, she didn't want her sisters constantly worrying about whether or not things upset her. Breezing into the parlor, she tried to put on what she thought was an appropriate, nonchalant manner for someone a month from eighteen.

"What's up, guys? Is Phoebe getting the boot?"

The two eldest exchanged a glance before Prue answered.

"Not today, sweetie." She put her arm around Pryce's shoulders. "But the first guy I bring home that she lays eyes on . . ."

"I'll warn her. I wanna go check if she pried the attic door open yet." Pryce made a move to head upstairs, but Prue tightened her grip to stop the girl in her tracks.

"She's not going to get in there, and I don't think you should even try. Ever since she dug up that Ouja board, she's been hell bent on getting that door open. There's probably nothing up there but dust bunnies, anyway." Pryce knew that this statement meant the discussion was closed. 

"Fine," Pryce griped, heading upstairs and hiding out in her room for a while, halfheartedly reading _Lord of the Flies _for English class before sneaking up to Phoebe to offer her assistance.

"Don't creep up like that, Pryce," Phoebe scolded in a whisper after her sister's sudden appearance behind her made her jump.

"Sorry," Pryce breathed excitedly. "Didja make any progress?"

"Did Prue tell you that you shouldn't be trying to come up to the attic?"

"Nope."

"Well," Phoebe rolled her eyes. "There's a change."

"She said neither of us should be trying."

"Smart aleck," Phoebe breathed through pursed lips as one last tug finally got the door jimmied open. "Paydirt! Walk quietly, little one, or else we'll get busted."

As they entered the dim, musty attic, Pryce quickly pressed her hands to her face to muffle a sneeze that earned a disapproving look from Phoebe.

"Allergies," she defended quietly, heading over to the first trunk she laid eyes on while her older sister headed for a larger one by the window.

The trunk opened with a squeak and more dust flew at her but she held back another sneeze as she examined its contents: Clothes that presumably had belonged to Grams and Patty, the older girls' mother. As she dug deeper, she found stacks of yellowed photos, papers and envelopes. 

She plucked out a particularly fat, heavy envelope with her name written on it in Grams' distinctive script. Looking around, she saw that Phoebe was engrossed in whatever she had found, Pryce opened the envelope and unfolded the papers. As she shuffled through them, she noticed every single one was blank.

Furrowing her brow, she stuffed the papers into her pocket, replaced the envelope and walked over to her older sister.

"Find anything interesting?" she asked, evidently startling Phoebe again.

"Yeah," she replied after catching her breath. "It's some really old book, but the pages are empty."

"Huh," Pryce mused, sitting down on the floor to get a good look. She wondered if she should talk about the similarly blank papers she had found, but decided against it, fearing they'd spend the rest of the night digging through the attic looking for mysterious notes addressed to all of them. "Nothing in there at all?"

"Not that I can find, but some of these pages seem to be turning themselves." She began to turn the pages faster, as if to elude whatever force was exerting itself upon the book. "I just want one clue, one page with _something_ on it."

As if directly answering her request, the book flipped to a printed page and stayed there, the old script staring up at the sisters.

"A poem?" Pryce offered, looking at the passage apprehensively.

"Something like that," Phoebe breathed, taking in the designs around the script, designs that looked like symbols, but symbols for what? One looked like the symbol on the cover of the book.

As rain outside began to pound on the window, Phoebe read the passage aloud. As she spoke the words, both sisters felt goosebumps rise on their flesh as a chill went over them. As she began the last line, there was a flash of lightening. When she finished, there was a loud clap of thunder and their light, a single bulb hanging from the ceiling, flickered out.

"Let's get out of here," Pryce suggested in a wavering voice. At Phoebe's nod, they headed downstairs quickly. 

As they headed to their respective bedrooms, Pryce noted Phoebe had kept the book, and as she closed her own door, she put the old envelope into her sock drawer, figuring she had had enough excitement for the night.


	2. A Warm Breeze

Title: Infinite Possibilities

Author: Johanney

Keywords: A/U

Rating: PG-13

Disclaimer: I don't own anyone except Pryce. In fact, with the way that the girls have been acting lately, I'm glad I don't own them: They're all up for a good punch in the face.

Author's Note: Please read/review. Let me know if I should keep going!!

Summary: We're picking up where we left off; in fact, it's the next morning!

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Infinite Possibilities Chapter 2: A Warm Breeze

The next morning dawned rather uneventfully for Pryce. The only changes she noted was that the power was back on, evident from the blinking 12:00 on her alarm clock, and the chill that had come over the house following the rain. She hated cold mornings, and therefore had a difficult time getting out of the cocoon of warm blankets she'd created during the night.

At least it was Saturday, she told herself as she pulled a sweatshirt on over her pajamas and pulled her long, light brown hair into a ponytail. Saturdays usually meant that Prue and Piper were both at work and she got the house to herself to watch cartoons, eat junk food and lie around all day in her pajamas.

Now that she thought about it, things may be a little different this week, seeing as how Phoebe was back. She hoped that her older sister, like herself, was chalking the events of last night up to freaky coincidence and wouldn't want to mention it, especially around Prue.

Their eldest sister would freak if she found out that both of them had been exploring in the attic, and Pryce really didn't want to deal with any more conflict. As she walked downstairs to head for the kitchen, she remembered how tense things had been at the Manor between her sisters, and the events preceding and following Grams' death. She prayed that her sisters would come to some sort of reconciliation, given the effects that the big fights used to have on the family, especially her.

Though she hated to admit it, every time things got emotionally charged around her, Pryce got horrible dizzy spells that she hated more than anything. Her counselor, the only person she ever admitted these to, reassured her that they were from the mixture of complicated situations in her life and had taught her some deep breathing exercises to try to work around them.

When she entered the kitchen, she was surprised to find Piper there, cleaning up the breakfast dishes and humming a nervous tune. Upon hearing Pryce entering, she turned and offered the girl a smile.

"Hey, Sleepyhead, I was starting to wonder when you were going to drag yourself out of bed. What were you doing up so late, anyway?"

"Oh," Pryce attempted to be casual; she was a terrible liar and didn't want what she'd really been doing to get back to her other sisters, that is, until Phoebe spilled the beans, which she would probably do. 

"Not too much of anything," she mumbled, reaching into the refrigerator for the carton of milk and walking to the center island to pour a glass. "Just catching up on some reading for English class."

As she began to pour, one of her dizzy spells gripped her, and she held onto the counter for support as she put down the carton and tried to focus on breathing. As she did, something hit her, it almost sounded like Piper's voice, but she was looking at her, she wasn't speaking. Instead, it seemed to skip her ears and go directly to her brain, it was a thought, a little bit of doubt, disbelief, her sister didn't really think she'd been reading, and it wasn't really a verbal thought, it was a feeling, one that ebbed against her like a warm summer breeze and gave her a headache.

Now she was holding the countertop with both hands and leaning into it, closing her eyes and focusing only on 'in through the nose, out through the mouth' like Lynda, her counselor, had said. The feeling that someone had kicked over a hornet's nest in her head and they were all buzzing around inside would not quit, so she simply held on and breathed as she felt concern wash over her. Piper was worried about her. She was scared that Pryce was reverting back to when the fights were bad, and she didn't know what to do, and Pryce didn't know how she knew this, or how to reassure her sister because she was terrified as well.

"Just . . . just a bad headache," she managed between her deep breaths. "Shouldn't have been reading by a flashlight for so long, I guess." She forced herself to sit at one of the kitchen chairs and take a sip of her milk. "I'm okay." 

"Are you sure?" Piper was coming closer, and as she did, she felt/heard more and the buzzing increased. She needed to keep her sister at a distance, it seemed to help. "You're really pale, let me take your temperature." She put out her hand but Pryce shook her head. She was going to work through this, she had to.

"I'm okay, really, I didn't sleep enough and used the flashlight too long. I need a new contact lens prescription, that's all."

"You don't look okay to me, Pryce. You could be really sick."

"I'm fine, and I'll be even better when you stop worrying so much and finish up what you need to do."

Finally, to Pryce's relief, Piper shrugged and headed back over to the sink. Her thoughts/feelings didn't completely go away, but they faded a bit the further she went.

"Where's everyone else?" She did what she thought was best: Keep breathing, keep up the chitchat, and it would pass, just like always.

"Prue's at Buckland's, as usual. Phoebe should be home soon, she went to do some paperwork at the University."

Piper dried her hands on a dishtowel and turned to face her little sister again, disbelief in her eyes.

"You're sure you're okay?"

"Yeah." Pryce managed a nod as she continued to fight both the headache and the wave of nausea that was beginning. "I'm gonna go up and take a nap." She willed herself to stand and force a smile. This was by far her worst attack ever.

Piper nodded. "That sounds like a good idea. I've got to get to my tryout. Make sure everyone knows they're on their own for dinner tonight."

"Jeremy _again_?" Pryce asked, sticking out her tongue. Piper had been dating Jeremy for a few weeks now, and there was something about him that she just didn't like. It was one of those feelings that you couldn't put a finger on, but it was always there, nagging away.

"What's wrong with him? He's a good guy," Piper defended her latest guy as Pryce walked past her to head upstairs.

"He seems like a bum," Pryce answered, moving as quickly as she could past her sister to avoid another wave of thoughts/feelings. "Have fun," she called weakly over her shoulder, heading up the stairs and curling up in her bed again, where, without any interruptions, she drifted off to sleep.

She felt them before she heard them. Pryce had dressed and was sprawled out on her bed, writing out an essay about the novel she was reading for class when she felt her sisters in the house. The dizziness hit again, but it was manageable this time, probably because she could tell from the sounds of Prue and Phoebe's voices that they were only in the foyer.

Closing her eyes, Pryce let their thoughts/feelings wash over her, just to see what would happen.

Prue was really angry. That was nothing out of the ordinary with Phoebe around, but she was also confused. Confusion and anger were a volatile mix for Prue, who didn't like being left in the dark about anything. Pryce could understand where she was coming from, maybe because she was feeling those feelings right now.

Phoebe was confused, too, but excitement and curiosity were winning out. She felt it had something to do with the book she'd dug up last night; in fact, she was convinced of that. 

Pryce didn't feel as bad as she did in the morning, so she decided to test the waters and head downstairs to see just what her older sisters were yelling about.

"I think you know, Phoebe!" Prue yelled as Pryce stood hesitantly at the foot of the stairs. "You're all excited about the fact that I made a paperweight hit a door without touching it, and I want to know just what the hell's going on."

"I'm not one hundred percent sure that I know what's happening to us," Phoebe replied.

"Us?" Pryce asked breathlessly. She was still dizzy, but she was better because she was letting more of her sisters' feelings into her mind without absorbing them. "What kind of trick did _you_ do?"

"I floated," she answered, as if it were the most normal thing in the world.

"Don't try to get out of it that easy," Prue admonished. "Tell her what else you did."

"I had a vision, like, like a movie in my brain."

"Of what?"

"Of an evil-looking guy attacking someone," Prue quickly answered for Phoebe, evidently eager to get this conversation over with as quickly as possible so they could get to the bottom of the mystery. "Do you know anything about any of this?"

"Uhm, well, something weird happened to me this morning, too."

"Like what?" Phoebe asked, her eyes growing wide with excitement at the prospect of a new "symptom."

"Well, it kinda felt like those dizzy spells I used to have when Grams died, only I felt Piper's feelings when she was in the kitchen. She was all nervous and excited about her date and her tryout, but she didn't believe me when I said that I wasn't in the attic last night."

"What about right now? Can you feel our feelings, or just Piper's?" Phoebe asked excitedly as Prue rolled her eyes.

Pryce nodded slowly. She didn't know how to explain things to her sisters, and now she was even more afraid than she'd been earlier in the day because they were experiencing strange things as well.

"Prue wants to see the book before she rips the hair out of your head, strand-by-strand." The look on Prue's face when Pryce said this told all of the sisters that something was definitely going on, and it wasn't just sisterly intuition.

The three barreled upstairs and checked Phoebe's room for the book. It wasn't where she had left it the night before, but after they peeked into the attic, they found it on a pedestal opposite the large window.

"Let's get to the bottom of this," Prue said, opening the ancient book with one sister at each shoulder, peering over as the pages began to turn themselves until it fell on an entry entitled "The Charmed Ones."

"This explains you and I, Prue," Phoebe breathed after finishing the entry. "Piper, too. Three sisters, only an incantation can break the bind on their powers. We should call Piper to see if anything's happened to her."

Before Prue could reply one way or the other, Phoebe ran past to get the phone downstairs.

"I don't understand how she can honestly be excited about this," Prue shook her head solemnly, then turned to Pryce, who was still intently reading the entry in front of them. Tears were beginning to form in her clear, brilliant blue eyes as she looked over the lines again and again.

"This _does_ explain you guys, but what about me?" She whispered sadly. "I mean, I know that I'm adopted, but you'd think that there'd be some reason why I'd have funky things going on, too. You'd think the answers for me would be in there, too."

Prue reached to comfort her youngest sister, but just as Pryce shrugged away from the embrace, Phoebe began shouting for Prue from downstairs.

"Go ahead. Anyone else's feelings will just make me more dizzy." Her eyes lowered to the book as a tear spilled down her cheek. "I'll let you know if anything else pops up."

She turned for the door, but not before giving the teenager a sad glance that she hoped conveyed her sympathy. The look passed and turned into annoyance as she heard Phoebe call again.

"What's the deal?" Pryce whispered to no one in particular. Her tears were flowing openly now. "What's going on with me? What about me?"

As if finally ready to answer her question, the book began flipping pages again until it landed on a page entitled "The Spare Heir."

Pryce read aloud:

"An extra sister-witch, bound to the others by half-blood, The Spare is more magically gifted than The Charmed Ones, but can only retain her powers when The Charmed Ones are intact. This affliction is a punishment from the highest entities that can never be lifted. The Spare is very useful in fighting evil, as long as she does not succumb to the temptation herself."


	3. Natalis

Title: Infinite Possibilities

Author: Johanney

Keywords: A/U

Rating: PG-13

Disclaimer: I think everyone knows the drill by now. J is for Johanney doesn't make any money from this.

Author's Note: Please keep up the encouraging reviews!! It keeps me writing this, and I could always use more to know what to do next.

Summary: It's been a month since the Charmed Ones unlocked their new powers, and they're figuring out how to save the world, while Pryce is still looking for the answers to her own questions.

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Infinite Possibilities Chapter Three: Natalis

One Month Later . . .

"Pryce, look out!" Phoebe shouted as Pryce headed down into the foyer from her bedroom. She froze and looked as a gout of flame headed right for her.

She put herself on what she called "magical auto-pilot" and braced herself for that feeling of breaking up into tiny pieces and becoming one with the air around her, rematerializing as the flame hit the wall behind her and set one of Grams' favorite pictures on fire.

As Pryce shook her head to try to reorient herself, Prue flung the attacking demon, a particularly tall, particularly ugly man/lizard with a long black coat, into the wall. Just then, Piper ran in with a vanquishing potion and the three oldest sisters chanted, and then threw the vial at the demon, who disappeared in the same fire he'd been tossing around.

"Ick," Pryce shuddered, holding the banister, looking both at her sisters and the mess that had been left.

"I know," Phoebe sympathized. "He was a nasty one."

"It's not just that," Pryce sighed. "I feel like I'm never gonna get used to doing that "particle" trick. It's tiring."

Pryce moved to the couch, tossed aside a damaged cushion, and leaned back. Since that day a month ago when Phoebe had unlocked the magic of the Halliwell sisters, they had all been trying hard to successfully live their new magical lives. Demons were all over the house at any given moment and all four sisters were fatigued from getting used to their myriad of powers.

The other three seemed satisfied with the answers that they had gotten from the book, a book that had revealed its' title not too long ago: The Book of Shadows. Pryce, however, wanted more than that little passage had told her.

When she'd tried to explain to her sisters about the Spare Heir entry, they'd asked to see it, but all subsequent attempts to find that page in the book had failed. It seemed that the book modified itself as necessary and never revealed all of its contents at one time.

She asked about being a half-sister, but they all clearly remembered finding her on the doorstep on a rainy October morning, and she took their answers as the truth, being that Prue, Piper and Phoebe had been nine, seven and four, respectively. That was surely old enough to remember.

They had all tried to assure her in their own little ways that it didn't matter where her powers had come from, the point was, she had them, and all of them were going to work together to try and make their magic as powerful as possible while also trying to have a normal life, somehow.

It was mornings like this that made Pryce almost wish she'd been left on a different doorstep, or even that she didn't have powers like the rest.

"Time for me to go back to bed," Pryce sighed, stretching and readying herself to go back up to her bed, which she'd been startled out of when she'd heard all the racket.

"No, way," Prue grinned and reached for her youngest sister's hands, pulling her up off of the couch. "Not on your eighteenth birthday."

"It's a lucky thing we left all of your presents in the kitchen." Piper said, trying to be merry despite the mess.

"Open my present first." Phoebe said excitedly as they entered the kitchen and Pryce was herded to a chair at the table.

"No, first I have to perform my last act as Pryce's legal guardian." Prue answered, sitting opposite the birthday girl and handing her a thick manila envelope. "These are your adoption papers. Grams left them in a safe deposit box at the bank, and I was only allowed to get them yesterday. No one's ever seen them but her."

"You don't ever have to look at them if you don't want to," Piper reassured, placing her hand over Pryce's trembling one as she uncertainly looked at what she was being given. "Grams just wanted you to have them today in case you were ever curious."

"Nothing in those papers will make you any less our sister," Prue put in, looking the girl directly in the eye. "They're a formality. You've been ours since the day we got you."

"Maybe there's something in here that could explain what's going on with me." Pryce said hopefully, fingering the metal clasp that would open the envelope. "Maybe my birth mother was a witch, or, or my birth father."

"That's a good possibility, sweetie," Phoebe said, tucking a lock of her sister's hair behind her ear. "We're here for anything you need."

"I think," she started, but hesitated momentarily. "I think I need to be alone for a minute, I want to open this and see if I can pry anything from the Book of Shadows about it. Just hold off the partying until I come back, okay?"

She looked at each of her sisters. She needed the reassurance that they understood her reasoning for being alone, and she felt nothing but love and compassion coming from all three. 

Pryce let herself feel those emotions for a minute, basking in the love of the only family she'd ever known. 

In the weeks that had approached her birthday, she'd feared that once her birth parents were revealed, that her sisters would reject her, leave her behind to find her "real" family. She'd told herself over and over again that the fear trapped in her heart was irrational, and besides, she could read her sisters' thoughts any time she needed to and find out the truth, plan ahead for the worst. 

The temptation had been great, but she had decided against it. Pryce had no idea what this thought-knowing power of hers was supposed to be for, but she had a good impression that she wasn't meant to go prying into the minds and hearts of her older sisters.

Turning slowly, she went toward the staircase and began her quiet ascent. She ran her hand over the banister the entire way up, looking at the pictures that decorated the walls as if this were going to be the last time she climbed these stairs. Something in the back of her mind, her own negativity, was telling her it would be the last time she was in this house, going through the motions as a "true" Halliwell. 

She thought about her sisters' words, and how their feelings had matched, and continued on to the attic, where she sat down on an old loveseat that she and Phoebe had dug up one night about a week ago while the two composed a spell. Phoebe was terrible at rhyming sometimes and Pryce was always happy to help.

Slowly, and with shaking hands, she undid the clasp of the envelope and shook the contents out onto her lap. There was only one piece of paper, and it fluttered quietly facedown, taunting her to flip it over and learn its' answers.

Pryce picked up the yellowed paper and turned it over, anxious for what it would say. She didn't know what to expect, she didn't know what adoption papers looked like, but was surprised to find instructions for a spell on the page rather than names, dates, facts.

The spell wasn't even complete; there were whole sentences missing! Pryce couldn't believe the betrayal of her adopted family, Grams, who'd put the paper there in the first place, Prue, who'd made a big deal out of nothing and let her get all excited, all curious, all anxious for nothing. How dare they?!

"How dare you?!" She screamed, channeling her fury and confusion into a scream that filled the attic. She threw the paper down and watched it fall to the floor as it had to her lap, not caring that it held betrayal all over it.

She stomped over to the Book of Shadows and wrenched the cover open. "I want answers, do you hear me?! You magical editor jerk, I want to know! Where the hell did I come from?! Why am I like this?! What's wrong with me?!"

The book stayed open to a blank front page, as if it were waiting for Pryce to stop her tantrum before telling her anything.

She screamed again and knocked the useless book to the floor just as her sisters entered the room. Prue saw the look of pure fury on Pryce's face and stopped the others from approaching. 

The girl was trembling like a drowned animal and her screams had sounded ferocious. Prue wanted nothing more than to comfort her, but she also knew that her youngest sister didn't like people coming close to her during times like this, times when her emotions were extreme.

"What's going on, Pryce?" Piper asked steadily. "What happened with the papers?"

"Paper." She replied simply, sliding down to the floor and curling into a self-protective ball. "One paper." She pointed to it.

Phoebe picked it up. "A spell?" She said in complete surprise, handing it over to her other sisters to inspect. "It's not even a complete one."

"Why would Grams do that?" Prue asked, narrowing her eyes in confusion as she looked at the lines. There were only a few things missing here and there. They could probably make it out together, if they tried.

"Because no one wants to tell me the truth around here!" Pryce howled again, taking her head out of the shield of her arms. "Not even that damn book!" She jabbed an angry finger at the Book of Shadows, and, as she did, a flame rushed out of her pointer finger and headed to the book, where it was extinguished on contact.

This new development gave Pryce enough pause to look up at her sisters in complete bewilderment. They returned the look.


	4. Veritas

Title: Infinitie Possibilities Chapter Four: Veritas

Author: Johanney

Keywords: A/U

Rating: PG-13

Disclaimer: I'm on chapter four now, and I haven't gotten any money yet. I think I've figured it out.

Summary: A direct pick-up from chapter three, Natalis. If you're confused, click back to that first.

Author's Note: Finally! Chapter four! I hope everyone who has liked this story so far will remember it so I can get some more encouragement whether or not to go on. I swear, my updates will be more regular once school is over. It's killing me!!

The look on Pryce's face was akin to horror. She had seen some decidedly strange things in the last four weeks, but this by far took the cake. A flame had come out of her, out of her finger, out of her body, and it had obviously happened because she'd been unable to control her emotions.

Curling up more tightly, she scooted into a corner of the attic and looked at her sisters with haunted eyes.

Piper had taken the yellowed spell away from Prue and was trying to read it; she had yet to see the offending article. Prue made her way to her baby sister.

"Stay away, Prue," Pryce warned, her voice trembling. "I'm dangerous. You guys all need to stay away from me. I can't control myself. I'm no better than a demon."

"No, that's not true." Prue took another confident step. It was clear to her that, just like the rest of them, Pryce's powers were governed by her emotions, and in a matter of time, they would find a way to use this latest development as an asset. "You were angry." Another step. "You just need to learn how to control this. It's just another power."

"That's not what the book said," she answered, sniffling back tears. "The book said that I could succumb to the temptation of evil."

"Honey, that's true about anyone," Phoebe joined in, stepping next to Prue. "Magical or not, any person can be tempted by evil, right, Piper?" She looked over her shoulder to her other sister for support, but Piper was busying herself with some task, reading the spell page as she went.

"Piper, what're you doing over there?" Phoebe was confused. "That spell's not even complete."

"It is now," she answered distractedly, arranging candles in a cleared space on the floor before continuing. "Maybe it's just one of those power of the witches things. Maybe we all had to touch it to get the whole thing." 

"Why would Grams do that to me?" Pryce asked from her corner. "Why didn't she just leave a complete spell, or my adoption papers, or even a letter?" In that instant, her eyes widened. She'd just had a realization. If a book could turn its own pages as it chose, if words could appear on paper, maybe there was an explanation for the blank letter in her sock drawer.

In a flash, she was on her feet, and the first thought that went through her mind was that of going to look at the letter to check for new developments, but she was hit by Piper's intrigue with the spell she was trying to concoct. For a moment, she simply stood and let her sister's thoughts/feelings wash over her. 

Despite her impatience to check the letter again for new developments, she lingered in the attic, deciding to go along with her sisters and perform the spell. After all, maybe the spell would conjure the words on the papers, or maybe something or someone would appear to finally tell her the truth.

"Pryce?" Prue said apprehensively, looking her sister over, clearly confused by her change in attitude. A moment ago, she'd been crouched on the floor in terror of herself, and now she was standing in front of her, looking inspired. "What are you thinking?"

"We should give this spell a shot," she breathed, tired from having her mind race so quickly. "Maybe it _is_ a letter from Grams."

"That's the spirit," Piper called from her spot near her completed candle arrangement. "Now, come on, all of you, get your butts over here. Let's get down to this." She beckoned with her hand, but it was not necessary as the other three complied quickly.

Following Piper's lead, the four sisters joined hands and repeated the spell she dictated, line for line. At the end, they waited breathlessly and were rewarded with a slight breeze that ruffled their hair. They chanted again, and again, and again, growing more intense each time until finally, finally, a swirl of glittering gold and white light appeared, along with a wind that extinguished the candles and blew dust from various items into the sisters' eyes.

After the wind settled and they opened their eyes, they were stunned into silence.

"M . . .Mom?" Prue finally stammered, quickly surveying the woman at the center of the circle.

It was, in fact, the late Patty Halliwell, and it seemed to Prue and Piper, the sisters that remembered her, she had not changed one bit in appearance since the day she died. That is, except for the fact that she was slightly transparent. It seemed not to bother her as her shiny eyes surveyed her three daughters head to foot and then turned her attention to Pryce. There was a look on her ghostly face that Pryce would later describe as "love-struck."

"Why did our spell summon you?" Prue asked. She seemed the only one to have regained the power to speak as yet.

Patty's gaze continued to linger on Pryce for another moment before she turned to her eldest daughter.

"Your Grams and I have been planning for today for over twenty years," she began with a sigh that sent a chill through the four sisters. "But now that I'm here, with all of you again, I can't even remember what we'd decided to say."

"Planning twenty years for what?" Phoebe asked in surprise. It was hard to take her eyes off of her mother, being that she'd been very young when Patty had died, but when she could, she was exchanging puzzled looks with her sisters.

Patty sighed again. "Girls, what happened to Sam after I died?"

"Sam the Whitelighter? He came around once, he seemed really depressed, and we never saw him again." Piper answered, unsure of what her mother's Whitelighter boyfriend had to do with her visit on Pryce's birthday. "It broke his heart when you died."

Patty nodded. "Yes, that broke his heart, but what destroyed him was that he knew what was going to happen to our daughter once I got 'up there.'"

"Daughter?" Prue was astonished. "I never thought I'd say this to you, let alone see you again, Mom, but can you please cut to the chase?"

Patty sighed again, and gave a faint smile. Her eldest had always wanted the straight facts, even as a tiny child.

"All right, then. You see, girls, when I died, I was pregnant with Sam's child. Our relationship alone broke every rule about witches and their Whitelighters, and now that I had to go up there, there was no way to hide the child." Her gaze dropped to the floor for a moment, ashamed. "If I'd have been here on earth, I could have hidden her, given her up for adoption, kept her a secret from the Elders so that they wouldn't punish any of you.

"It's pretty obvious by the way I look, girls, time stands still up there. I spent nearly two years with a baby inside of me, a baby which neither grew nor withered because she was in a state of limbo, just like me, while I begged the Elders to have mercy on my girls, to let them fulfill their destinies."

It was obvious to the sisters where Patty's story was going. Prue, Piper and Phoebe all turned to Pryce, whose face was contorted in a mask of pain and confusion. Her eyes were narrow slits, they bore intense hatred, her body was locked in its' spot and she kept watching Patty as the story continued.

"Finally, they came to a decision. Our child could still be a powerful witch, at a price. She would only have powers when the Charmed Ones were intact, and could grow up with them, be raised by my own mother, so long as she acted as if this child were an anonymous baby left on her doorstep until the day she died."

Patty turned to her youngest daughter and it was clear there were tears shimmering on her transparent face.

"I chose your name. I wanted the world to know, and my mother to remember, that saving you and giving you a life with your sisters was worth the cost."

All of this was too much for Pryce. Hadn't the last month been enough for her? Hadn't most of her life been filled with difficulty, confusion, and to top it off, the feeling that she never truly fit in, only to find out she did?!

She didn't even have the energy or passion to scream, or make any sound at all. She simply wrenched her hands from those of her sisters and ran for the door, four sets of confused eyes following her.


End file.
